Dear Sherwood Town Criers,

Our Meeting Theme: Independence Day: The 4th of July 2020

The United States Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July 1776

The Constitution of the United States

The United States of America

The Star Spangled Banner

Lady Gaga – Star Spangled Banner – Our National Anthem

Lady GaGa – National Anthem (At Super Bowl) – Francis Scott Key – Lyrics

The Battle of Fort McHenry, through Francis Scott Key’s Eyes

Statue of Liberty

Unveiling the Statue of Liberty – 1886

Statue of Liberty today

Pledge of Allegiance

4 U.S. Code § 4.Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery

1954 version.

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag:

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

It should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform.

Cherokee

My ancestors

Trail of Tears

Oregon Trail

Map from The Ox Team, or the Old Oregon Trail 1852–1906, by Ezra Meeker
Location Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon
Established 1830s by mountain men of fur trade, widely publicized by 1843
Governing body National Park Service
Website Oregon National Historic Trail

Archaic Period: North America

Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

United States of America – Melting Pot of the World

Immigration to the United States

The American Dream

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.^[1]

The American Dream is rooted in the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that “all men are created equal” with the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”^[2] Also, the U.S. Constitution promotes similar freedom, in the Preamble: to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”.